Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, first, I should like to
thank the European Organising Committee for the North-South campaign
for their kind invitation to me to assume the honorary presidency.
I am also grateful to the President of this Assembly for giving
me the opportunity to appear once again in this Chamber to say a
few words about a subject of such great significance and repercussions
as that which is now under discussion.

When we celebrated the launching of this campaign last November
in Madrid, I pointed out the profoundly European nature of the ideals
that inspire this initiative by the Council of Europe — an institution
that, in the highest sense of the word, is representative of the
democratic principles that govern the political life of our countries.

There could hardly be a better framework than this for understanding
the sense of the campaign that is now getting under way. The Council
of Europe was the fruit of a long process of rapprochement between
nations that had often known confrontation among themselves in the
past and that now work together in the building of a common future.

The meeting is taking place in this Assembly of the legitimate
representatives of the citizens of Europe, who have chosen organisational
models of collective life based on social solidarity, respect for
the beliefs and rights of each individual, and the democratic legitimacy
of the public authorities.

In promoting this European Public Campaign on North-South
Interdependence and Solidarity, the Council of Europe is in fact
reaffirming the universal nature of these noble aspirations, convinced
that the grave problems that we shall have to face in the future
have already acquired this dimension, and that any attempt to achieve a
solution based on partial approaches will be discarded by future
generations.

The problems of economic and social development have been
a cause for growing concern in the most diverse spheres over the
past decades, giving rise to initiatives of different kinds on the
part of agencies, institutions and people who have placed their
experience and their resources at the service of these goals.

It suffices to recall in this respect the task undertaken
by the United Nations and its specialised agencies, starting in
the so-called "first decade for development”; the increasingly important
role of the international financial institutions; and the proliferation
over the past few years of private agencies and organisations which day
by day perform valuable work and are an example of solidarity and
dedication.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that in international public
opinion development problems are subject to increasingly wider concern,
the conditions in which the populations of most of the countries
of this planet live have not improved but have even worsened in
some regions. Moreover, its dangerous effects have combined with
those of new factors that have made their appearance on the international
economic scene, thus creating a situation in which the difficulties
tend to take root and to perpetuate themselves.

Over the past few years, the critical situation of the African
continent has been aggravated by natural disasters and economic
difficulties. External debt, which affects Latin America with special
intensity, compromises the development expectations of medium-income
countries, whose political and social stability is constantly endangered.
To this can be added the significant drop in commodity prices, the
exports of which constitute the main source of foreign exchange
for many of these countries.

When, eight years ago, the Brandt Commission chose “A programme
for survival” as the title for its report, is accurately underlined
a reality whose confirmation is a corner-stone of this campaign
– in other words, interaction between the different processes and
problems in which all the countries in the world are involved, whatever
the degree of their economic and social development.

Therefore, the campaign’s first goal is to attract the attention
of Europeans to this concept of interdependence. No nation can seek
out the roots of its problems and adopt possible solutions exclusively
in respect of its own situation or its own history. All peoples
and individuals share a past, a present and a future with the rest
of mankind.

Indeed, the success or the failure in the struggle of each
one to overcome his own difficulties transcends the limits of individual
responsibility and in the final analysis constitutes an additional
encouragement to, or a brake on, the aspirations of others. Only
thus can the failure of those nations who have set out to materialise
their own dreams to the detriment or absolutely independently of
other peoples, be explained.

The Council of Europe, in co-operation with the European Economic
Community, is preparing to make a considerable effort through the
campaign that starts today. Especially important is the role that
this Assembly and its members are called upon to play in it. The
legitimate representatives of the citizens of Europe are undoubtedly
the main vehicle for conveying social concerns to the authorities
responsible for making and implementing political and economic decisions.

The purpose of the campaign is to ensure that, far from adopting
lazy or fatalistic attitudes, most Europeans will keep hope alive
for a better future in which solidarity and the spirit of collaboration
will prevail over selfishness and short-sightedness.

Mr President, through the initiative of the campaign, the
European institutions are making a very important contribution to
this long process, by directing their efforts to the arousing of
public opinion. The dedication of this Assembly to the campaign
is in itself a promising omen for the way in which it will undoubtedly
be received and supported by the citizens, the governments and the
institutions of Europe.

A group of distinguished figures in political and cultural
life, belonging to very different countries, have generously contributed
to this effort by agreeing to become honorary sponsors of the campaign.

From this forum, and on behalf of all of them, I wish to repeat
my appeal to the public authorities, to private organisations and
to public opinion, to give their backing to the campaign, thereby
contributing to the success of such an important initiative.

If, thanks to it, we Europeans become more aware of the interdependence
that characterises our world, and we make more room for individual
and collective solidarity, we shall indeed be laying the foundations
for a world that is freer and more just. (Prolonged applause)

THE PRESIDENT (translation)

Your Majesty,
thank you for agreeing to act as President of the campaign and for entrusting
this mission not just to all the members of this Assembly, but to
the whole of Europe.